The team first translated image and video data into a standard binary code of 0s and 1s. Each image or video is then broken into thousands of pieces. Using a lossless encoding technique called Huffman coding, the team next mapped each piece into short synthetic DNA strands. In this way, a single image may result in thousands of snippets of DNA.

During DNA synthesis, the researchers added a unique identifier — an “address” made up of a short nucleotide sequence — that lets them later reassemble the snippets into a complete image, much like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. To read the data, the DNA is sequenced on a machine, and the nucleotide sequence is translated back into bytes.

One potential solution is DNA, which is a million times more information dense than today’s flash drives. It also is more stable, more secure and uses minimal energy. The problem is that it is currently prohibitively expensive. However, a startup that has emerged out of MIT, called Catalog, may have found the breakthrough we’re looking for: low-cost DNA Storage